Right To Rent Checks - July 2021- Landlords Beware!
Thursday 17th June 2021
As we are aware, Right to Rent checks have been around since 2014. These checks are predominately there, to ensure that anyone who rents a property in the UK has the right to do so.
As a result of Britain's exit from the EU, Right to Rent requirements for EEA citizens (this includes EU, EEA and Swiss citizens) have changed, as of 1st July 2021. An EEA citizen already living here will need to obtain immigration status under the EU Settlement Scheme giving them either "Settled Status" (permanent right to rent) or "Pre-Settled Status" (time limited right to rent). They can no longer rely on an EEA passport or national identity card to prove their right to rent.
A landlord must verify a tenant's status before letting a property or risk an unlimited fine or even face imprisonment.
According to the 'Landlord's guide to right to rent checks', the following updates have been made:
1. The way EEA citizens prove their right to rent in the UK from 1 July 2021 by making:
2. Changes to the acceptable document list to remove EEA passports, national identity cards and specified EEA Regulations documents, which only confirmed the individual's nationality or that they were exercising EEA Treaty Rights
3. Changes to the acceptable document list to include;
- Irish passport and passport card
- A document issued by the Crown Dependencies Jersey,Guernsey, or the Isle of Man, which has been verified as valid by the Home
- A frontier worker permit
4. The temporary adjusted right to rent checking process during COVID-19.
If a person's application is currently being processed by the Home Office, their right to rent status can be checked with the Landlord Checking Service.